1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector with a housing having at least one chamber for receiving an electrical contact and with a contact locking element for locking the electrical contact in the chamber.
2. Description of the Prior Art
DE 37 05 739-C2 discloses an electrical connector with a housing and with a contact locking element. The housing is of substantially cuboid-shaped design with a front face, a cable-side end face and four side walls. It has a plurality of chambers which are arranged in two rows and which are each intended for receiving an electrical contact. Further, the housing comprises an opening running perpendicular to the chambers. The contact locking element can be pushed into the opening to lock the electrical contacts in the chambers. The contact locking element has a wall part which, when inserted, reduces the clear width of the chambers when the contact, thereby preventing the contact from being removed.
DE 36 09 684-A1 likewise discloses an electrical connector with a housing and a contact locking element. The housing, which consists of a frame unit and individual modules, includes at least two chambers for each receiving one electrical contact. The housing has an opening which runs perpendicular to the chambers and between the chambers where the contact locking element can be pushed through a first side wall to lock the electrical contacts in the chambers. The contact locking element has at least two opposite wall parts which reduce the clear width of the respective chambers when the contact locking element is inserted.
The term "electrical connector" as used in the present description refers to a housing which contains a plurality of electrical contacts and serves for coupling or connection to a complementary connector in order to form a connector assembly. Housing arrangements of this type are being used in electrical cable harnesses and are employed, for example, in automotive engineering. Typically, a contact locking element is used to secure contacts in respective chambers of the housing. Assembly is accomplished by the contacts being inserted into the chambers and then the contact locking element is inserted. In this procedure, it is important to ensure that when the contact locking element is being inserted into the housing, if it abuts against a contact which is only partly inserted, the contact locking element does not push the contact away, but rather that the contact locking element cannot be introduced further. This can be effected with increasing reliability, when the area of overlap of the contact locking element and the contact is greater. This is the case when the width of the contact locking element with the opposite wall parts is maximized. Nevertheless, it must be ensured that the contact locking element can be easily inserted into the opening in the housing.